559. And they had tails like unto scorpions.- That this signifies sensual scientifics, which are persuasive, is evident from the signification of tails, as denoting sensual scientifics, concerning which in what follows; and from the signification of scorpions, as denoting things persuasive, infatuating, and suffocating (see above, n. 544). Hence tails like unto scorpions signify sensual scientifics, which are persuasive. Tails signify sensual scientifics, because the tails which the animals of the earth have, are continuations of the spine of the back, which is called the spinal marrow, and this is a continuation of the brain, and the brain like the head, signifies intelligence and wisdom, because intelligence and wisdom reside there in their beginnings, and because tails are the ultimates of it, they signify sensual scientifics, for these are the ultimates of intelligence and wisdom.

[2] Sensual scientifics are those scientifics which enter from the world through the five senses of the body, and hence, viewed in themselves, are material, corporeal, and worldly, as compared with those which are more interior. All those who are in the love of self, and have confirmed themselves against Divine and spiritual things, are sensual men, and when they think in their spirit, as is the case when they are left to themselves, they think concerning things Divine and spiritual things from sensual scientifics, and therefore they reject Divine and spiritual things as not worthy of belief, because they do not see them with their eyes, or touch them with their hands, and they apply their own scientifics, which they have made sensual and material, for the purpose of destroying them.

Take for example, learned men of this kind who are skilled in natural philosophy, anatomy, botany, and the other branches of human learning; when such persons see the wonderful things that exist in the animal and vegetable kingdoms, they say in their hearts that all these things are from nature, and not from the Divine, because they believe in nothing but what they can see with their eyes, and touch with their hands. For they cannot raise their minds, and thus see those things from the light of heaven, this light being thick darkness to them, but they keep their minds fixed on earthly things, almost like the animals of the earth, with which they also compare themselves. In a word, with such persons, all knowledges (scientiae) become sensual. For as is the man himself, such are all things pertaining to his understanding and will. If the man is spiritual, all things become spiritual; if he is only natural, all things become natural and not spiritual; if he is sensual, all things become sensual, and this is the case, however learned and scholarly he may appear to be before the world. But since all men have the faculty of understanding truths and perceiving goods, they are able to speak, by virtue of this faculty, as though they were spiritual-rational, but still they are sensual as to the spirit, for when such persons speak before the world, they do so not from the spirit, but from the memory which pertains to the body. These things are stated in order that it may be known what sensual scientifics are.

[3] The reason why these are exceedingly persuasive is, that they are the ultimates of the understanding; for the understanding terminates therein, as in its ultimates, and these captivate the vulgar, because they are appearances arising from such things as they see with their eyes in the world; and as long as the thought adheres in them, the mind cannot be disposed to think interiorly or above them, until they are removed. For the interior things of the mind all terminate in ultimates, and rest upon them as a house upon its foundation, wherefore [sensual scientifics] are exceedingly persuasive, but only in the case of those whose minds cannot be elevated above sensual things. But with those who are in the light of heaven from the Lord, the mind is elevated above these things, and the light of heaven dissipates them. Spiritual men therefore rarely think from sensual things, for they think from things rational and intellectual, while sensual men, who have confirmed themselves in falsities against things divine and spiritual, think only from things sensual when they are left to themselves.

[4] That tails signify sensual scientifics, is evident from the following passages.

Thus in Isaiah:

"Jehovah will cut off from Israel head and tail, branch and rush. The old man and honourable, he is the head; but the prophet that teacheth lies, he is the tail" (9:14, 15).

These words mean that all intelligence and wisdom are about to perish, and all the knowledge (scientia) of truth. By the head are signified intelligence and wisdom, therefore it is said, "the old man and honourable, he is the head," for an old man signifies the intelligence of truth, and the honourable, the wisdom of good. But by the tail is signified sensual knowledge (scientificum), which is the ultimate of intelligence and wisdom; when this is not conjoined with spiritual intelligence, it becomes false knowledge, or knowledge applied to confirm falsities, which is sensual knowledge like that of the sensual man, who sees nothing from the understanding. Hence the prophet that teacheth a lie is called the tail; for a prophet signifies the doctrine of truth, and therefore the knowledge (scientia) of truth, but in this case the doctrine and knowledge (scientia) of falsity. For a lie signifies falsity, and the teacher of a lie, him who teaches falsity by applying scientifics from the sense of the letter of the Word to confirm falsities.

[5] Again, in the same prophet:

"Neither shall there be any work for Egypt, which may make the head and tail, branch and rush" (19:15).

Here Egypt signifies the knowledge (scientia) of both spiritual and natural things. By there being no work for it which may make the head and tail, is signified, that it possesses neither spiritual things, nor natural things that confirm the spiritual, the head there denoting the cognitions of spiritual things by means of which comes intelligence, and the tail denoting natural scientifics, which are serviceable to spiritual things as means of intelligence. Similar things are signified by the branch and the rush, the branch denoting spiritual truth, and the rush, the sensual scientific, which is ultimate truth; for if the prior and the posterior, or the first and ultimate, do not make one in man, then he has not the head and the tail.

[6] So in Moses:

"Thus Jehovah shall make thee the head, and not the tail; and thou shalt be above only, and thou shalt not be beneath, if that thou hearken unto the commandments of thy God" (Deuteronomy 28:13).

"To make the head" signifies to make [a man] spiritual and intelligent, so that he may be elevated out of the light of the world into the light of heaven; and to make the tail, denotes to make [a man] sensual and foolish, so that he looks not to heaven but to the world; therefore it is said, "and thou shalt be above only, and thou shalt not be beneath." To be above denotes to be elevated by the Lord so as to look to heaven, and to be beneath denotes not to be elevated by the Lord, but from self, and man from self looks only to the world. For the interiors of man which pertain to thought and affection are raised to heaven by the Lord, when he is in good of life and thence in truths of doctrine, but if he is in evil of life, and consequently in falsities, then lower things look downwards, thus only to his own body and to such things as are in the world, and thus to hell, whence he puts off the nature which is truly human, and puts on the nature of a beast; for beasts look downwards, and to such things only as they meet with in the world and upon the earth. Elevation into the light of heaven by the Lord is an actual elevation of the interiors of man to the Lord, and depression or casting down to such things as are beneath and outside of the eyes, is an actual depression and casting down of the interiors, and when this is the case, then all the thought of his spirit is immersed in the ultimate Sensual.

[7] Again, in Moses:

"The sojourner who is in the midst of thee shall ascend high above thee more and more, but thou shalt descend downwards more and more. He shall lend to thee, but thou shalt not lend to him; he shall be the head, but thou shalt be the tail" (Deuteronomy 28:43, 44).

These words must be similarly understood. To be the head signifies to be spiritual and intelligent, and to be the tail signifies to be sensual and foolish; therefore it is also said, "he shall lend to thee, but thou shalt not lend to him," by which is signified, that he shall teach thee truths, but thou shalt not teach him.

[8] So in Isaiah:

"Say unto him, Take heed, and be quiet; fear not, neither be fainthearted, for the two tails of smoking fire-brands, for the fierce anger of Rezin and Syria, and of the son of Remaliah" (7:4).

Rezin and Syria signify the Rational perverted, and the son of Remaliah the king of Israel, also called Ephraim, signifies the Intellectual perverted. It is the Intellectual in relation to the Word that is signified by the king of Israel and by Ephraim, while it is the Rational in relation to confirmatory knowledges (scientiae) that is signified by Rezin and Syria. For a man must have a Rational in order that he may understand the Word. When these two are perverted, they look only downwards to the earth, and outward to the world, as sensual men do who are in the falsities of evil; therefore they are called tails. A smoking fire-brand signifies the lust (concupiscentia) of falsity, and thence wrath against the truths and goods of the church.

[9] So again, in Moses:

"Jehovah said unto Moses, Put forth thy hand, and take the serpent by the tail. And he put forth his hand, and caught it, and it became a rod in his hand" (Exodus 4:4).

That here also by tail is meant the Sensual, which is the ultimate of the natural, may be seen in the Arcana Coelestia 6951-6955). Since tails signify the ultimates of intelligence and wisdom, which are sensual scientifics, and since all the details of the sacrifices signified celestial and spiritual Divine things, therefore also it was commanded that they should remove the tail near the spine of the back, and also should sacrifice it with other parts there mentioned (Leviticus 3:9; 8:25; 9:19; Exodus 29:22). That the burnt-offerings and sacrifices signified celestial and spiritual Divine things, which are the internals of the church, and from which worship is performed, may be seen in the Arcana Coelestia 2180, 2805, 2807, 2830, 3519, 6905, 8936). Because tails signify sensual scientifics, which, when separated from interior things which are spiritual - that is, when they do not with the interiors, look inwards and upwards, but outwards and downwards - signify falsities confirmed by scientifics, therefore also in the following parts of the Apocalypse, where falsities from that source are treated of, it is said that the tails of the horses seen in the vision were like serpents, having heads with which they do hurt (9:19); and afterwards that the dragon drew with his tail the third part of the stars of heaven, and cast them upon the earth (12:3, 4). These things may be seen explained below.

2180. 'And took a young bull, tender and good' means a celestial-natural which the rational took to itself in order that it might join itself to perception from the Divine. This is clear from the meaning of 'a young bull' or 'a son of an ox' in the Word as natural good. And because the subject is the Lord's Rational, it is called 'tender' from the celestial-spiritual, which is truth grounded in good, and 'good' from the celestial itself, which is good itself. Within the genuine rational there is both the affection for truth and the affection for good, but that which is first and foremost there is the affection for truth, as shown already in 2072. This explains why 'tender' is mentioned before 'good'; but even so, as is quite usual in the Word, both are mentioned on account of the marriage of truth and good which is referred to above in 2173.

[2] That 'a young bull' or 'a son of an ox' means the celestial-natural, or what amounts to the same, natural good, becomes especially clear from the sacrifices, which were the principal representatives in the worship of the Hebrew Church and after this of the Jewish Church. Their sacrifices were made either from the herd or from the flock, thus from animals of various kinds that were clean, such as oxen, young bulls, he-goats, sheep, rams, she-goats, kids, and lambs, besides doves and fledgling pigeons. All of these creatures meant the internal features of worship, that is, celestial and spiritual things, 2165, 2177, those from the herd meaning celestial-natural, those from the flock celestial-rational. Because both of these - natural things and rational things - are more and more interior and are various, so many genera and so many species of these creatures were therefore employed in sacrifices. This fact becomes clear also from its being laid down as to which creatures were to be offered in burnt offerings and also which in every kind of sacrifice - the daily sacrifices; those offered on sabbaths and at festivals; those made as free-will, eucharistic, or votive offerings; and those offered in purifications, cleansings, and also in inaugurations. Which creatures were to be used, and how many, in each kind of sacrifice is mentioned explicitly. This would never have been done unless each one had had some specific meaning, as is quite evident from those places where the sacrifices are the subject, as in Chapter 29 of Exodus; Chapters 1, 3, 4, 9, 16, and 23 of Leviticus; and Chapters 7, 8, 15, and 29 of Numbers. But this is not the place to explain what each one meant. The situation is similar in the Prophets where those animals are mentioned, from which it may become clear that young bulls meant celestial-natural things.

[3] That none but heavenly things were meant becomes clear also from the cherubim seen by Ezekiel and from the living creatures before the throne which were seen by John. Regarding the cherubim the prophet says,

The likeness of their faces was the face of a man (homo); and they four had the face of a lion on the right side; and they four had the face of an ox on the left side; and they four had the face of an eagle. Ezekiel 1:10.

Regarding the four living creatures before the throne John says,

Around the throne were four living creatures - the first living creature was like a lion, the second living creature like a young bull, the third living creature had a face like a man (homo), the fourth living creature was like a flying eagle - saying, Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty, who was, and who is, and who is to come. Revelation 4:7-8.

Anyone may see that holy things were represented by the cherubim and these living creatures, thus also by the oxen and young bulls in the sacrifices. The same applies in the prophecy of Moses concerning Joseph,

Let it come upon the head of Joseph and upon the crown of the head of the Nazirite among his brothers. The firstborn of his ox has honour, and his horns are the horns of a unicorn; with these he will thrust the peoples together, to the ends of the earth. Deuteronomy 33:16-17.

These words are not intelligible to anyone unless he knows what ox, unicorn, horns, and many other things mean in the internal sense.

[4] As for sacrifices in general they were indeed commanded to the Israelites through Moses. But the Most Ancient Church which existed before the Flood never knew anything at all about sacrifices, nor did it ever enter their minds to worship the Lord by the slaughtering of animals. The Ancient Church which existed after the Flood knew nothing about it either. Representatives did indeed exist there, but not sacrifices. These were first introduced in the subsequent Church called the Hebrew Church, and from there they spread to the gentile nations, and even to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and so to Jacob's descendants. The fact that the gentile nations had sacrificial worship has been shown in 1343, and the fact that Jacob's descendants also had such worship before they left Egypt, thus before sacrifices were commanded through Moses on Mount Sinai, becomes clear from Exodus 5:3; 10:25, 27; 18:12; 24:4-5.

[5] This is especially clear from their idolatrous worship in front of the golden calf, regarding which the following is said in Moses,

Aaron built an altar in front of the calf, and Aaron made a proclamation and said, Tomorrow there will be a feast to Jehovah. And they rose up early the next morning and presented burnt offerings and brought peace offerings. And the people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to play. Exodus 32:5-6.

This happened while Moses was on Mount Sinai, and so before the command came to them regarding the altar and the sacrifices. That command came to them for the reason that sacrificial worship among them had been turned, as it had among the gentiles, into idolatrous worship, from which they could not be drawn away because they looked upon it as-the chief holy thing. Once something has been implanted in people from their earliest years as being holy, the more so if received from their fathers, and thus is inrooted, the Lord in no way breaks it - provided it is not contrary to order itself - but bends it. This was the reason for its being laid down that the sacrificial system should be established, such as one reads in the books of Moses.

[6] The fact that sacrifices were by no means acceptable to Jehovah, and so were merely permitted and tolerated for the reason just stated, is quite evident in the Prophets. Concerning them the following is said in Jeremiah,

Thus said Jehovah Zebaoth, the God of Israel, Add your burnt offerings on to your sacrifices, and eat the flesh. I did not speak with your fathers and I did not command them on the day I brought them out of the land of Egypt on the matters of burnt offering and sacrifice. But this matter I commanded them, saying, Obey My voice, and I will be your God. Jeremiah 7:21-23.

In David,

O Jehovah, sacrifice and offering You have not desired; burnt offering and sin-sacrifices You have not sought. I have delighted to do Your will, O my God. Psalms 40:6, 8.

In the same author,

You do not delight in sacrifice that I should give it; burnt offering You do not accept. The sacrifices of God are a contrite spirit. Psalms 51:16-17.

In the same author,

I will not take any young bull from your house, nor he-goats from your folds. Sacrifice to God confession. Psalms 50:9, 14; 107:21-22; 116:17; Deuteronomy 23:18.

In Hosea,

I desire mercy and not sacrifice, and the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings. Hosea 6:6.

Samuel said to Saul,

Has Jehovah great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices? Behold, to be submissive is better than sacrifice, to be obedient than the fat of rams. - 1 Samuel 15:22.

In Micah,

With what shall I come before Jehovah and bow myself to God on high? Shall I come before Him with burnt offerings, with calves a year old? Will Jehovah be pleased with thousands of rams, with tens of thousands of rivers of oil? He has shown you, O man, what is good; and what does Jehovah require of you but to carry out judgement, and to love mercy, and to humble yourself by walking with your God? Micah 6:6-8.

[7] From these quotations it is now evident that sacrifices were not commanded but permitted, and also that in sacrifices nothing else was regarded except that which was internal, and that it was that which was internal that was pleasing, not that which was external. For this reason also the Lord abolished them, as was also foretold through Daniel in the following words when he was speaking about the Lord's Coming,

In the middle of the week He will cause the sacrifice and the offering to cease. Daniel 9:27.

See what has been stated about sacrifices in Volume One, in 922, 923, 1128, 1823. As for 'the young bull' which Abraham made ready or prepared for the three men, the meaning is similar to that of the same animals when used in sacrifices. That it had a similar meaning becomes clear also from the fact that he told Sarah to take three measures of fine flour. Regarding the fine flour that went with the offering of a young bull the following is said in Moses - referring to when they were to come into the land,

When you make ready a young bull for a burnt offering or a sacrifice in the declaring of a vow, or for peace offerings to Jehovah, you shall bring with the young bull a minchah of three tenths of fine flour mixed with oil. Numbers 15:8-9.

Here similarly the number 'three' appears, though three 'tenths' here but three 'measures' in Abraham's instruction to Sarah. But only two tenths went with the offering of a ram, one tenth with that of a lamb, Numbers 15:4-6.